Expo seeks to strengthen relations

The third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, jointly hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and the Hunan provincial government, kicks off in Changsha in Hunan province from Thursday to Sunday.

Themed "Common Development for a Shared Future", this year's expo features more than 40 activities covering green infrastructure, customs and quarantine, medicine and health, agricultural and food products, industrial parks, vocational education and other topics. The guests of honor countries are Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria and Zambia.

The main exhibition hall covers a total area of 100,000 square meters. It consists of a comprehensive exhibition hall; African enterprises and commodity hall; Chinese enterprises and commodity hall; local provincial halls; a domestic and foreign trade integration hall and an outdoor exhibition area.

The African enterprises and commodity hall has attracted 300 enterprises showcasing products such as essential oils from Madagascar; gemstones from Zambia; coffee from Ethiopia; wooden carvings from Zimbabwe; flowers from Kenya; wine from South Africa; chili peppers from Rwanda; cosmetics from Senegal and other specialty products.

A total of 225 companies at the Chinese enterprises and commodity hall display exhibits including medical equipment; cultural and sports goods; consumer electronics; textiles and clothing, agricultural machinery and equipment.

The domestic and foreign trade integration hall creates a platform that boosts domestic and foreign trade and consumption and supports Chinese foreign trade enterprises to expand the domestic market.

The outdoor exhibition area mainly displays engineering, mining and agricultural machinery, as well as prefabricated buildings and commercial vehicles. Seventeen enterprises, including Sany and Zoomlion, participate, with 1,100 exhibitors and 8,000 professional visitors.

The number of visitors is expected to exceed 100,000.

Sub-exhibition halls have been set up in the China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Innovation Demonstration Park. Its four exhibition areas are a permanent offline hall for the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, the Hunan Export Products Cluster, the China-Africa Digital Industry Park and an African coffee trading center.

The China-Africa Trade Index will be released for the first time during the event, providing a barometer for business operators to carry out economic and trade cooperation with a digital and scientific evaluation system.

In addition, the expo is to hold nine high-end events organized by national ministries and institutions; seven economic and trade docking events; four special seminars and 13 special events organized by local provinces and municipalities.

The first two sessions signed a total of 216 cooperation projects or agreements with a value of $43.02 billion, promoting the Belt and Road Initiative and the high-quality development of economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa.